Hi all Looking for a bit of reassurance as I'm winding myself up with worry. Our boy is 13 weeks. He's a very good pup in that he sleeps all night (has done since the 5th night with us), is grasping toilet training really well, is affectionate (loves sofa cuddles and kisses us way more than he ever bites), doesn't chew furniture, is great off lead and comes back when called. BUT. I keep reading all these awful tales of people's pups changing for the worse when they hit that teenage phase. I really wish I hadn't been reading these things cos now I am constantly wondering if everything good in him is going to disappear and we will be back to square one. Is adolescence worse than the puppy phase? Do all dogs get that way? What can we do to avoid any behavioural issues arising?
I would say that you really don't need to be anxious. When dogs go through adolescence it does take a bit more effort on our part to keep them engaged with us when we're out and about but it's just part of the normal training process - a development of everything you are doing now. I have had dogs all my life but to take Molly as an example, when she was getting to the end of her first year I started to carry a bag of toys with me on walks and we did lots of different activities for short periods (eg a tugging game, a chase-me game, a retrieve etc). I also did lots of changes of direction, so when she got a bit ahead of me (off-lead) I would suddenly head off somewhere else - especially good in the wood where I could head off into the undergrowth! I also attended gun-dog training classes for a while which were useful and gave me ideas for things to practise when out walking. So with a young adult dog walks aren't just ambles when you can drift off but times for active engagement with your dog - but that also makes it fun.
